Our most recent HHC is now history and a good one it was. Weather not
withstanding the hunt was a fine one. Kase and I had 45 MPH winds coming
across New Mexico,and Texas and then torrential rains thru Arkansas and into
Tennessee. The drive from Memphis to the lodge which should have been a 5
hour drive took us 12 hours. But Friday morning turned out sunny and cool
and a perfect day for hunting. A lot of great animals were taken on this
hunt. Kase got a really nice Nilgai with 8” horns (the #1 has 9” horns). I
was lucky enough to get a nice 6X6 bull elk with my little 41 GNR Pirate
gun, 1 shot. A lot of big hogs were taken along with some nice sheep and
exotic deer. All in all a great hunt. I haven’t booked our next HHC yet but
taking into consideration some dates already taken it looks like probably
the last weekend in October will be the dates. more on that as we go along.

Hopefully spring is just around the corner here and again hopefully some
varmint hunting. Although this time last week we had 4 feet of fresh snow on
the ground. And we have a chance of snow on thru early May but that would be
a quick melting snow should we have more. I hope to get out and try out the
two Banshee cartridges on some varmints this summer and if the weather
permits I hope to get out and do some sighting in over the next 3 to 4
weeks.

Lots of new goodies to tell you about, some neat stuff and some simply
gadgets and gimmicks to relieve you of some of the weight in your wallet. A
couple of things first. Most of you already know Ruger has stopped taking
orders for a couple of months. They have a tremendous amount of guns on
order and basic materials being in high demand and short supply, I am sure
that is part of the reason for the hiatus. One other company is thinking of
doing the same but no positive word on that yet. I respect Ruger for their
actions. With roughly 1 million guns on order it is only smart to stop the
orders while they try to catch up.

Another “new” company in the news. When the Freedom Group bought out
Bushmaster there was a non compete clause in the purchase agreement. That
agreement is running out so the old owner has gathered together as many of
the original workers from the original Bushmaster as possible. The total
work crew was fired during the purchase. The old original owner has now
started up Windham Weaponry using most of the original crew and the results
should be an extremely well made AR-15 style rifle, which will be called the
SRC AR-15. More models are on the drawing board and with the experience
behind this crew, some innovative rifles should be on the scene before too
long.

Mossberg has their new Flex System ready to be shipped. It is a new way they
have attached the forend and stocks to their new shotguns that enable them
to switch different stocks, recoil pads and forends within seconds. Mossberg
has always been at the forefront of new products while still producing
standard extremely well made utilitarian shotguns for home defense and law
enforcement use as well as military shotguns.

Hornady has issued a recall of some of their 500 S&W ammo. The ammo recalled
is the 300 grain FTX pistol ammunition. For more info call Hornady at
800-338-1242.

A few months ago it seemed everyone in the gun industry was trying to come
up with something for the zombie apocalypse. Now that we have that problem
solved with numerous guns, knives, hatchets and condoms to protect us from
the invasion of the undead, it’s time to move on. The new problem is HOGS.
Feral, nasty stinking HOGS. Now some of you perverts may think I am trying
to set you up with some of Puff Daddy’s old girlfriends, but actually these
are real HOGS, as in wild boar, piggies, swine. There is a terrible over
population of them in almost every state and especially in the South. Wild
feral hogs in the South will have 3 to 4 litters a year with 4 to 6 piglets
per litter, and they have very few predators, except for man. So they are
rapidly getting out of hand. To counter this there are several new rifles
being released that are designed especially for hog hunting and most for hog
hunting at night. Some are equipped for suppressor use. There are also
several companies making thermal and optical imaging scopes for night-time
hunting. A company called ATN has their THOR scope out that is thermal
optical imaging that makes the hogs glow bright red at night. The only down
side is the price. They range from $5200 to about $7000. There are also a
couple of companies coming out with specialty ammo for hog hunters. One
company is Winchester with their Razorback XT ammo. So far all of it I have
seen is in rifle cartridges. I think they may be missing a bet not making
some special ammo for the handgun hunters.

I get all the gun magazines at home, at least all that I know of, and the
trend in each of these magazines, for the most part, seems to be pushing the
reader AKA the BUYER, to buy high dollar scopes, binocs and spotting
scopes. Now by “high dollar” I am not talking about $700 to $900 scopes and
binocs. I am talking about scopes and binocs that start at $1000 and go up
to well over $5000. The prevailing thought, unfortunately, among many young
shooters and hunters is that if you buy the most expensive scopes and binocs
you naturally get the absolute best. Well, I hate to burst your bubble but
tain’t so. Everyone’s eyes are different and what may be clear to one may
be fuzzy as Obama’s ancestry to another. Scopes and binocs that are really
clear to my well past half century eyes are not so to Kase’s 1/3 century
eyes. So their statement that their very expensive scopes and binocs are the
ultimate is pure BS. I read a big article in one of the magazines last
weekend that their $2800 scopes “gather” more light than the competition.
That again is pure BS. No scope “gathers” light. They may allow more light
to pass thru but none of them gather light. When it comes to optics, choose
the best ones that are clear to your eyes. For years on 11 trips to Africa I
have used a set (actually 4 sets) of Redfield 10X50 binocs. When I heard
Redfield was going out of business I went out and bought 3 more sets of
binocs, because they were so clear to my eyes. Now 12 years later as my eyes
change I have switched to a set of Burris 10X42 binocs. These are extremely
clear to me and only run maybe $450 at the most. So what I am babbling about
is look thru several sets and if a $250 set of binocs or a $150 scope is
clear to your eyes, buy it. Don’t believe all the BS the gun magazines are
printing. Most of them print what they get paid to print. There are a couple
of exceptions, GUNS and American Handgunner. These two are still run by
honorable, honest folks and I have never heard the term “GUN WHORE” linked
to either of them. Nuff said.

Here is one I haven’t figured out yet. Ted Nugent is well known as one of
the best archers in the country. But now American Tactical, the folks that
put out those fine 1911s at great prices, is distributing Ted Nugent Hi
Performance Hunting Ammunition. It will be available in most handgun
calibers and rifle calibers from 223 up to 50 BMG. Another new one is
actually an old one, of sorts. Hornady is bringing out J.D. Jones 300
Whisper in a 110 grain bullet and a 208 grain bullet. The strange thing
about this is another company has copied this round that has been out for 20
or more years and calls it their own. That is the 300 AAC Blackout, a 30
caliber bullet in the 221 Fireball case. And Remington is producing a bolt
action rifle in this chambering while at least one AR-15 has it chambered in
it. At the same time Another AR-15 maker has the 300 Whisper chambered in
their rifle. Both of these cartridges are being talked about as if they are
the best thing since canned sardines, yet both have considerably less power
than a 30-30 and the Whisper was developed by J.D as a sub-sonic round for
the AR-15. This gets stranger and stranger.

Mag Tech ammo, the Brazilian company that makes some very fine handgun ammo
for the 9mm, 45 ACP among others is now branching out into high tech handgun
hunting ammo. They also have several different types of rifle ammo from
plinking to top of the line self defense ammo. If you see Mag Tech ammo at
your local gun shop, check it out. It’s good stuff.

Those that are military gun buffs, there is a neat one coming this summer.
It is an exact copy of the German STG-44, except it is chambered in 22 LR.
It is from American tactical, who make about a dozen different types and
styles of firearms including the extremely well made 1911s that I have
talked about on here quite a bit. The gun was packed in a wooden crate that
looked like an ammo box from World War 2, but I would imagine at least the
markings on the box will change. The stampings on the box look amazingly
like the old Nazi markings that were around during WW2.

A couple of guns that may run into some legal snags are from Crosman, the BB
and pellet gun folks. The are AR-15 uppers in their M4-177 series and look
EXACTLY like a Colt M4 carbine upper that goes on your lower. They come in
the normal gun metal gray and in tan and have the full picatinny rails and
forends just like the originals. This could pose some problems with law
enforcement the first time they see someone carrying one of these in an area
where real guns are not supposed to be. Then again, maybe not.

Those that have been around for a few years (30) may remember the old
Atchison shotguns that looked much like an AR-15. Well, there is now a
company called RAAC Firearms that is making a new magazine fed shotgun that
looks exactly like an AR-15. One would have to look closely to tell it from
an AR-15. It comes with 5 round detachable magazines.and in a couple of
styles of camo. No word yet on the price.

There is a new 22 conversion kit out for the Glocks. It is called the ZEV 22
and is from ZEV Technologies and is a drop-on conversion kit.

Rossi, now owned by Taurus, is coming out with a new 45-70 lever action
called the Rio Grande. It will also be available in 410 shotgun and comes in
either blue or stainless. With Marlin out of the lever gun business for a
while the market is wide open for others to step in. Henry Repeating Arms
also has a new 45-70 coming out and for those looking for a nice 22 caliber
lever gun, Uberti is making a new stainless 22 caliber lever gun called the
Silverboy.

Taurus has a new revolver out in 44 special called the 445 Ultra Lite. It
weighs 22 ounces with 5 shot cylinder and 2” barrel. The thing that gets my
attention is they promote it as perfect back up in bear country. No comment.

One other thing. The gun and ammo rush appears to have started again. With
more and more people afraid that Obama will be re-elected more and more
people are beginning to buy up bulk ammo, primers, powder and guns. Already
several of the distributors we use at our gun shop are reporting zero
amounts of some ammo and guns that were at the overstocked point 6 months
ago. The rush may not be like the one a couple of years ago but you might
keep your eye on things and if they start up again like before, pick up what
you might need while you can.